In a Motion Exparte dated March
11, 2015, the plaintiffs through their lawyer, C. N. Nsobundu, and Emeka
Nri-Ezedi Esq sought relief of the court headed by Justice M. I Abubakar, to
serve General Buhari and INEC the originating summons and other processes in
the suit.
In simple terms, APGA and Senator
Igbeke are praying the court to halt the presidential ambition of General
Buhari because in the form he submitted to INEC seeking to contest the 2015
Presidential Election, Buhari had indicated his interest to contest as the
flag-bearer of the All Progressives Congress Party (APCP) which the plaintiffs
contend is not an existing political party in Nigeria today. The plaintiffs contend
that the only party that bears a semblance of the platform that Buhari cited as
the party he is standing election in is the All Progressives Congress (APC).
They are also praying the court to
determine whether General Buhari who failed to show the proof that he is a
citizen of Nigeria by birth in his INEC Form CF001 is qualified to vie for the
office of president of Nigeria. The contention here is that in failing to
attach his birth certificate to his INEC Form, Buhari had left a huge gap in
his profile that makes people wonder whether he is truly a Nigerian.
The Plaintiffs also contend that
General Buhari failed to attach any evidence of his purported educational
qualifications to his INEC Form and consequently fell below the minimum
standards for candidates standing election for the office of president.
APGA and Senator Igbeke are also
praying the court to determine whether Buhari who “falsely” claimed in his Voter’s Card submitted alongside the
INEC Form that he was public servant as at January 22nd 2011should not be
disqualified from contesting the coming presidential election.
They further averred that the APC
presidential candidate who deposed an affidavit at an Abuja High Court in
November 2014 claiming that “All
my academic qualifications documents as filled in my Presidential Form,
President APC/100/2015 are currently with the Secretary Military Board as at
the time of this affidavit,”
ought to be disqualified from contesting the said election for lying on oath.
After hearing the Motion Exparte
by the plaintiffs’
lawyer, Justice Abubakar granted them leave to serve General Buhari with the
originating summons and other processes in the suit, out of the jurisdiction of
the court i.e be outside Anambra State and in Kaduna State. General Buhari will
be served the processes at 4A & B Sultan Lane, Off Sultan Road, Kaduna
while INEC will be served at INEC Office, House of Assembly Road, Awka.
Justice Abubakar also granted an
order for the urgent hearing of the suit by abridging/limiting the time within
which the defendants shall enter appearance and file their defence to the
originating summons to 5 days and the time within which the plaintiffs shall
file a reply to the defence to the originating summons to 3 days.
He also gave an order for the substituted
serve of the Originating summons and other processes in the suit on the 1st
defendant by publishing the processes in two Nigerian National Daily Newspapers
to wit: SUN Newspaper and Vanguard Newspaper.
With this move, the All
Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) has opened a new vista in the current efforts
to deepen the Nigerian democratic process by asking the judiciary some
hard-boiled questions on whether a candidate seeking the office of President
can do so after making false claims and lying on oath.
The court has scheduled March 23,
this year as return date for hearing the Exparte Motion.
